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TOMMY   TROT'S   VISIT 

TO 

SANTA   CLAUS 


BOOKS  FOR  YOUNG  READERS 

BY   THOMAS    NELSON 

PAGE 

Published  by  CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

Tommy  Trot's  Visit  to  Santa  Claus. 

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Santa  Claus's  Partner 

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A  Captured  Santa  Claus 

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Among  the  Camps.    Illustrated  . 

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Two  Little  Confederates.     Illustrated 

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The  Page  Story  Book.    Illustrated 

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As  wide  awake  as  a  boy  could  be  who  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  keep  awake  until  midnight. 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

TO 

SANTA  CLAUS 

BY 
THOMAS   NELSON   PAGE 


ILLUSTRATED   BY 

VICTOR  C.  ANDERSON 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 

1908 


Copyright,  1908,  by 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

Published  October,  1908 


TO 

THE    GREATEST   LOVER    OP   CHILDREN 

THE   AUTHOR   HAS   EVER   KNOWN 

AND   TO   THE    CHILDREN    SHE    LOVES 

BEST   IN   ALL   THE   WORLD 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

As  wide  awake  as  a  boy  could  be  who  had  made  up 

his  mind  to  keep  awake  until  midnight    .    Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGB 

Tommy  had  never  before  had  any  real  coasting  like  this     10 

They  flew  on,  over  fields  of  white  snow 42 

"  Look,  look  !     The  captain  has  lent  that  little  boy  his 
'  Seven  Leaguers ' ' 52 

What  was  their  horror  to  find  that  they  both  had  for- 
gotten to  load  their  guns 82 

Santa  Claus  said  to  him,  "I  want  to  put  Johnny  in 

bed  without  waking  him  up" 92 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT  TO 
SANTA  CLAUS 


THE  little  boy  whose  story  is  told  here 
lived  in  the  beautiful  country  of 
"Once  upon  a  Time."  His  name,  as  I 
heard  it,  was  Tommy  Trot;  but  I  think 
that,  maybe,  this  was  only  a  nick-name. 
When  he  was  about  your  age,  he  had,  on 
Christmas  Eve,  the  wonderful  adventure 
of  seeing  Santa  Claus  in  his  own  country, 

1 


TOMMY  TROTS  VISIT 

where  he  lives  and  makes  all  the  beauti- 
ful things  that  boys  and  girls  get  at  Christ- 
mas. In  fact,  he  not  only  went  to  see 
him  in  his  own  wonderful  city  away  up 
toward  the  North  Pole,  where  the  snow 
never  melts  and  the  Aurora  lightens  up  the 
sky;  but  he  and  his  friend,  Johnny  Stout, 
went  with  dogs  and  guns  to  hunt  the  great 
polar  bear  whose  skin  afterwards  always  lay 
in  front  of  the  big  library  fireplace  in 
Tommy's  home. 

This  is  the  way  it  all  happened. 

Tommy  lived  in  a  big  house  on  top  of 
quite  a  high  hill,  not  far  from  a  town  which 
could  be  seen  clearly  from  the  front  portico 
and  windows.  Around  the  house  was  a  large 
lawn  with  trees  and  shrubbery  in  it,  and  at 
the  back  was  a  big  lot,  in  one  corner  of  which 
stood  the  stables  and  barns,  while  on  the  other 
side  sloped  down  a  long  steep  hill  to  a  little 

2 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


stream  bordered  with  willows  and  maples 
and  with  a  tract  of  woodland  beyond.  This 
lot  was  known  as  the  "  cow-pasture,"  and 
the  woodland  was  known  as  the  "wood- 
lot,"  while  yet  beyond  was  a  field  which 
Peake,  the  farmer,  always  spoke  of  as  the 
"big  field."  On  the  other  side  of  the  cow- 
lot,  where  the  stables  stood,  was  a  road 
which  ran  down  the  hill  and  across  the 
stream  and  beyond  the  woods,  and  on  the 
other  side  of  this  road  near  the  bottom  of  the 
hill  was  the  little  house  in  which  lived  Johnny 
Stout  and  his  mother.  They  had  no  fields  or 
lots,  but  only  a  backyard  in  which  there  were 
chickens  and  pigeons  and,  in  the  Fall,  just 
before  Tommy's  visit  to  Santa  Claus,  two 
white  goats,  named  "Billy"  and  "Carry," 
which  Johnny  had  broken  and  used  to  drive 
to  a  little  rough  wagon  which  he  had  made 
himself  out   of  a   box   set  on  four  wheels. 

3 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

Tommy  had  no  brothers  or  sisters,  and 
the  only  cousins  he  had  in  town  were  little 
girls  younger  than  himself,  to  whom  he 
had  to  "give  up"  when  any  one  was 
around,  so  he  was  not  as  fond  of  them  as 
he  should  have  been;  and  Sate,  his  dog, 
a  terrier  of  temper  and  humours,  was  about 
his  only  real  playmate.  He  used  to  play 
by  himself  and  he  was  often  very  lonely, 
though  he  had  more  toys  than  any  other  boy 
he  knew.  In  fact,  he  had  so  many  toys  that 
he  was  unable  to  enjoy  any  one  of  them  very 
long,  and  after  having  them  a  little  while  he 
usually  broke  them  up.  He  used  to  enjoy  the 
stories  which  his  father  read  to  him  out  of 
Mother  Goose  and  the  fairy-books  and 
the  tales  he  told  him  of  travellers  and 
hunters  who  had  shot  lions  and  bears  and 
Bengal  tigers ;  but  when  he  grew  tired  of  this, 
he  often  wished  he  could  go  out  in  the  street 

4 


TO   SANTA   CLAUS 


and  play  all  the  time  like  Johnny  Stout  and 
some  of  the  other  boys.  Several  times  he 
slipped  out  into  the  road  beyond  the  cow- 
lot  to  try  to  get  a  chance  to  play  with 
Johnny  who  was  only  about  a  year  older 
than  he,  but  could  do  so  many  things 
which  Tommy  could  not  do  that  he  quite 
envied  him.  It  was  one  of  the  proudest 
days  of  his  life  when  Johnny  let  him  come 
over  and  drive  his  goats,  and  when  he  went 
home  that  evening,  although  he  was  quite 
cold,  he  was  so  full  of  having  driven  them 
that  he  could  not  think  or  talk  of  anything 
else,  and  when  Christmas  drew  near,  one  of 
the  first  things  he  wrote  to  ask  Santa  Claus 
for,  when  he  put  the  letter  in  the  library  fire, 
was  a  wagon  and  a  pair  of  goats.  Even  his 
father's  statement  that  he  feared  he  was  too 
small  yet  for  Santa  Claus  to  bring  him  such 
things,  did  not  wholly  dampen  his  hope. 

5 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

He  even  began  to  dream  of  being  able  to 
go  out  some  time  and  join  the  bigger  boys 
in  coasting  down  the  long  hill  on  the  other 
side  from  Johnny  Stout's,  for  though  his 
father  and  mother  thought  he  was  still 
rather  small  to  do  this,  his  father  had  prom- 
ised that  he  might  do  it  sometime,  and 
Tommy  thought  "sometime"  would  be 
after  his  next  birthday.  When  the  heavy 
snow  fell  just  before  Christmas  he  began 
to  be  sorry  that  he  had  broken  up  the  sled 
Santa  Claus  had  given  him  the  Christmas 
before.  In  fact,  Tommy  had  never  wanted  a 
sled  so  much  as  he  did  the  afternoon  two  days 
before  Christmas,  when  he  persuaded  his 
father  to  take  him  out  again  to  the  coasting 
hill  to  see  the  boys  coasting.  There  were 
all  sorts  of  sleds :  short  sleds  and  long  sleds, 
bob-sleds  and  flexible  fliers.  They  held 
one,  two,  three,  and  sometimes  even  half  a 

6 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


dozen  boys  and  girls — for  there  were  girls, 
too — all  shouting  and  laughing  as  they  went 
flying  down  the  hill,  some  sitting  and  some 
lying  down,  but  all  flying  and  shouting,  and 
none  taking  the  least  notice  of  Tommy. 
Sate  made  them  take  notice  of  him;  for  he 
would  rush  out  after  the  sleds,  barking  just 
as  if  they  had  been  cats,  and  several  times 
he  got  bowled  over — once,  indeed,  he  got 
tangled  up  in  the  string  of  a  sled  and  was 
dragged  squealing  with  fright  down  the 
hill.  Suddenly,  however,  Tommy  gave  a 
jump.  Among  the  sleds  flying  by,  most  of 
them  painted  red,  and  very  fine  looking, 
was  a  plain,  unpainted  one,  and  lying  full 
length  upon  it,  on  his  stomach,  with  his 
heels  high  in  the  air,  was  Johnny  Stout, 
with  a  red  comforter  around  his  neck,  and 
a  big  cap  pulled  down  over  his  ears.  Tom- 
my knew  him  at  once. 

7 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

"Look,  father,  look!"  he  cried,  pointing; 
but  Johnny's  sled  was  far  down  the  hill 
before  his  father  could  see  him.  A  few 
minutes  later  he  came  trudging  up  the  hill 
again  and,  seeing  Tommy,  ran  across  and 
asked  him  if  he  would  like  to  have  a  ride. 
Tommy's  heart  bounded,  but  sank  within 
him  again  when  his  father  said,  "I  am 
afraid  he  is  rather  little." 

"Oh!  I'll  take  care  of  him,  sir,"  said 
Johnny,  whose  cheeks  were  glowing.  Tom- 
my began  to  jump  up  and  down. 

"Please,  father,  please,"  he  urged.  His 
father  only  smiled. 

"Why,  you  are  not  so  very  big  yourself," 
he  said  to  Johnny. 

"Big  enough  to  take  care  of  him,"  said 
Johnny. 

"Why,  father,  he's  awful  big,"  chimed 
in  Tommy. 


TO   SANTA   CLAUS 


"Do  you  think  so?"  laughed  his  father. 
He  turned  to  Johnny.  "  What  is  your  name  ?  " 

"Johnny,  sir.  I  live  down  below  your 
house."  He  pointed  across  toward  his 
own  home. 

"I  know  him,"  said  Tommy  proudly.  "He 
has  got  goats  and  he  let  me  drive  them." 

"Yes,  he  can  drive,"  said  Johnny,  con- 
descendingly, with  a  nod,  and  Tommy  was 
proud  of  his  praise.  His  father  looked  at  him. 

"Is  your  sled  strong?"  he  asked. 

"Yes,  sir.  I  made  it  myself,"  said 
Johnny,  and  he  gave  the  sled  a  good  kick 
to  show  how  strong  it  was. 

"All  right,"  said  Tommy's  father.  They 
followed  Johnny  to  the  top  of  the  slide, 
and  Tommy  got  on  in  front  and  his  father 
tucked  his  coat  in. 

"Hold  on  and  don't  be  afraid,"  he  said. 

"Afraid!"  said  Tommy  contemptuously. 
9 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

Just  then  Johnny,  with  a  whoop  and  a 
push  which  almost  upset  Tommy,  flung 
himself  on  behind  and  away  they  went  down 
the  hill,  as  Johnny  said,  "just  ski-uting." 

Tommy  had  had  sledding  in  his  own 
yard;  but  he  had  never  before  had  any 
real  coasting  like  this,  and  he  had  never 
dreamed  before  of  anything  like  the  thrill 
of  dashing  down  that  long  hill,  flying  like 
the  wind,  with  Johnny  on  behind,  yelling 
"Look  out!"  to  every  one,  and  guiding  so 
that  the  sled  tore  in  and  out  among  the 
others,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  actually 
turned  around  the  curve  and  went  far  on 
down  the  road. 

"You're  all  right,"  said  Johnny,  and 
Tommy  had  never  felt  prouder.  His  only 
regret  was  that  the  hill  did  not  tilt  up  the 
other  way  so  that  they  could  coast  back  in- 
stead of  having  to  trudge  back  on  foot. 
10 


Tommy  had  never  before  had  any  real  coasting  like  this. 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


When  they  got  back  again  to  the  top  of 
the  hill,  Tommy's  father  wanted  to  know 
if  they  had  had  enough,  but  Tommy  told 
him  he  never  could  have  enough.  So  they 
coasted  down  again  and  again,  until  at 
length  his  father  thought  they  had  better 
be  going  home,  and  Johnny  said  he  had  to 
go  home,  too,  "to  help  his  mother." 

"How  do  you  help?"  asked  Tommy's 
father,  as  they  started  off. 

"Oh,  just  little  ways,"  said  Johnny. 
"I  get  wood — and  split  it  up — and  go  to 
Mr.  Bucket's  and  get  her  things  for  her — 
draw  water  and  feed  the  cow,  when  we  had 
a  cow — we  ain't  got  a  cow  now  since  our 
cow  died — and — oh — just  a  few  little  things 
like  that." 

Tommy's  father  made  no  reply,  and 
Tommy,  himself,  was  divided  between  won- 
der that   Johnny  could  call  all  that  work 

11 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

"just  a  few  little  things,"  and  shame  that 
he  should  say,  "ain't  got,"  which  he,  him- 
self, had  been  told  he  must  never  say. 

His  father,  however,  presently  asked, 
"Who  is  Mr.  Bucket?" 

"Don't  you  know  Mr.  Bucket?"  said 
Johnny.  "He  keeps  that  grocery  on  Hill 
Street.  He  gave  me  the  box  I  made  this 
old  thing  out  of." 

"Oh,"  said  Tommy's  father,  and  turned 
and  looked  the  sled  over  again. 

"What  was  the  matter  with  your  cow?" 
asked  Tommy. 

"Broke  her  leg — right  here,"  and  Johnny 
pulled  up  his  trousers  and  showed  just 
where  the  leg  was  broken  below  the  knee. 
"The  doctor  said  she  must  be  killed,  and  so 
she  was ;  but  Mr.  Bucket  said  he  could  have 
saved  her  if  the  'Siety  would 've  let  him. 
He'd  'a  just  swung  her  up  until  she  got  well." 
12 


TO   SANTA   CLAUS 


"How?"  asked  Tommy,  much  inter- 
ested. 

"What  Society?"  asked  his  father. 

Johnny  answered  the  last  question  first. 
"'Pervention  of  Cruelty,'"  he  said,  shortly. 

"Oh,"  said  Tommy's  father. 

"I  know  how  she  broke  her  leg,"  said 
Johnny. 

"How  did  she  break  her  leg?"  inquired 
Tommy. 

"A  boy  done  it.  I  know  him  and  I  know 
he  done  it,  and  some  day  I'm  going  to  catch 
him  when  he  ain't  looking  for  me." 

"You  have  not  had  a  cow  since?"  in- 
quired Tommy's  father.  "Then  you  do 
not  have  to  go  and  drive  her  up  and  milk 
her  when  the  weather  is  cold  ?" 

"Oh,  I  would  not  mind  that,"  said 
Johnny  cheerily.  "I'd  drive  her  up  if  the 
weather  was  as  cold  as  Greenland,  and 
13 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

milk  her,  too,  so  I  had  her.  I  used  to  love 
to  feed  her  and  I  didn't  mind  carryin'  milk 
around;  for  I  used  to  get  money  for  it  for 
my  mother  to  buy  things  with;  but  now, 
since  that  boy  broke  her  leg  and  the  'Siety 
killed  her " 

He  did  not  say  what  there  was  since;  he 
just  stopped  talking  and  presently  Tom- 
my's father  said:  "You  do  not  have  so 
much  money  since?" 

"No,  sir!"  said  Johnny,  "and  my  mother 
has  to  work  a  heap  harder,  you  see." 

"And  you  work  too?" 

"Some,"  said  Johnny.  "I  sell  papers 
and  clean  off  the  sidewalk  when  there  is 
snow  to  clean  off,  and  run  errands  for  Mr. 
Bucket  and  do  a  few  things.  Well,  I've 
got  to  go  along,"  he  added,  "I've  got  some 
things  to  do  now.  I  was  just  trying  this  old 
sled  over  on  the  hill  to  see  how  she  would 
14 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


go.  I've  got  some  work  to  do  now";  and 
he  trotted  off,  whistling  and  dragging  his 
sled  behind  him. 

As  Tommy  and  his  father  turned  into 
their  grounds,  his  father  asked,  "Where  did 
he  say  he  lived?" 

"Wait,  I'll  show  you,"  said  Tommy, 
proud  of  his  knowledge.  "Down  there 
[pointing].  See  that  little  house  down  in 
the  bottom,  away  over  beyond  the  cow- 
pasture?" 

"How  do  you  know  he  lives  there  ?" 

"Because  I've  been  there.  He's  got 
goats,"  said  Tommy,  "and  he  let  me  drive 
them.  I  wish  I  had  some  goats.  I  wish 
Santa  Claus  would  bring  me  two  goats 
like  Johnny's." 

"Which  would  you  rather  have?  Goats 
or  a  cow  ?"  asked  his  father. 

"Goats,"  said  Tommy,  promptly. 
15 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

"I  wonder  if  Johnny  would!"  laughed  his 
father. 

"Father,  where  is  Greenland?"  said 
Tommy,  presently. 

"A  country  away  up  at  the  North — away 
up  in  that  direction."  His  father  pointed 
far  across  the  cow-pasture,  which  lay  shin- 
ing in  the  evening  light.  "I  must  show  it 
to  you  on  the  map." 

"Is  it  very  cold  there  ?"  asked  Tommy. 

"Very  cold  in  winter." 

"Colder  than  this?" 

"Oh,  yes,  because  it  is  so  far  north  that 
the  sun  never  gets  up  in  winter  to  warm 
it,  and  away  up  there  the  winter  is  just 
one  long  night  and  the  summer  one  long 
day." 

"Why,  that's  where  Santa  Claus  comes 
from,"  said  Tommy.  "Do  people  live  up 
there?" 

16 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


"People  called  Eskimos,"  said  his  father, 
"who  live  by  fishing  and  hunting." 

"Tell  me  about  them,"  said  Tommy. 
"What  do  they  hunt?" 

"Bears,"  said  his  father,  "polar  bears — 
and  walrus — and  seals — and " 

"Oh,  tell  me  about  them,"  said  Tommy, 
eagerly. 

So,  as  they  walked  along,  his  father  told 
him  of  the  strange  little,  flat-faced  people, 
who  live  all  winter  in  houses  made  of  ice 
and  snow  and  hunted  on  the  ice-floes  for 
polar  bears  and  seals  and  walrus,  and  in  the 
summer  got  in  their  little  kiaks  and  paddled 
around,  hunting  for  seals  and  walrus  with 
their  arrows  and  harpoons,  on  the  "pans" 
or  smooth  ice,  where  every  family  of 
"harps"  or  seals  have  their  own  private 
door,  gnawed  down  through  the  ice  with 
their  teeth. 

17 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

"I  wish  I  could  go  there,"  said  Tommy, 
his  eyes  gazing  across  the  long,  white  glis- 
tening fields  with  the  dark  border  of  the 
woodland  beyond  and  the  rich  saffron  of 
the  winter  sky  above  the  tree-tops  stretch- 
ing across  in  a  border  below  the  steelly 
white  of  the  upper  heavens. 

"What  would  you  do  ?"  asked  his  father. 

"Hunt  polar  bears,"  said  Tommy 
promptly.  "I'd  get  one  most  as  big  as  the 
library,  so  mother  could  give  you  the  skin; 
because  I  heard  her  say  she  would  like  to 
have  one  in  front  of  the  library  fire,  and  the 
only  way  she  could  get  one  would  be  to  give 
it  to  you  for  Christmas." 

His  father  laughed.  "All  right,  get  a  big 
one." 

"You  will  have  to  give  me  a  gun.  A 
real  gun  that  will  shoot.  A  big  one — so 
big."    Tommy  measured  with  his  arms  out 

18 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


straight.  "Bigger  than  that.  And  I  tell 
you  what  I  would  do.  I  would  get  Johnny 
and  we  would  hitch  his  goats  to  the  sled 
and  drive  all  the  way  up  there  and  hunt 
polar  bears,  and  I'd  hunt  for  sealskins,  too, 
so  you  could  give  mother  a  coat.  I  heard 
her  say  she  wanted  you  to  give  her  one. 
Wouldn't  it  be  fine  if  I  could  get  a  great  big 
bearskin  and  a  sealskin,  too!  I  wish  I  had 
Johnny's  goats!" 

"You  must  have  dogs  up  there  to  draw 
your  sled,"  said  his  father. 

"All  right!  After  I  got  there  I  would  get 
Santa  Claus  to  give  me  some,"  said  Tommy. 
"But  you  give  me  the  gun." 

His  father  laughed  again.  "Well,  may- 
be— some  day,"  said  he. 

"'Some  day'  is  too  far  away,"  said 
Tommy.    "I  want  to  go  now." 

"Not  so  far  away  when  you  are  my 
19 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

age/'  said  his  father  smiling.  "Ah,  there 
is  where  the  North  Star  is,"  he  said,  point- 
ing. "You  cannot  see  it  yet.  I  will  show 
it  to  you  later,  so  you  can  steer  by  it." 

"That  is  the  way  Santa  Claus  comes." 
said  Tommy,  his  eyes  on  the  Northern 
sky.  "I  am  going  to  wait  for  him  to- 
morrow night." 

"You  know  he  does  not  bring  things  to 
boys  who  keep  awake!" 

"I  know;  but  I  won't  let  him  see  me." 

As  they  trudged  along  Tommy  suddenly 
asked,  "Don't  you  wish,  Father, Santa  Claus 
would  bring  Johnny  a  cow  for  his  mother  ?" 

"Why,  yes,"  said  his  father. 

"Like  Cowslip  or  Rose  or  even  old 
Crumpled  Horn?" 

"Like  our  cows!"  echoed  his  father,  ab- 
sently.   "Why,  yes." 

"Because  they  are  all  fine  cows,  you 
20 


TO   SANTA   CLAUS 


know.  Peake  says  so,  and  Peake  knows 
a  good  cow,"  said  Tommy,  proud  of  his 
intimacy  with  the  farmer.  "I  tell  you 
what  I  am  going  to  do  when  I  get  home," 
he  declared.  "I  am  going  to  write  another 
letter  to  Santa  Claus  and  put  it  in  the  chim- 
ney and  ask  him  to  send  Johnny  a  whole 
lot  of  things :  a  cow  and  a  gun  and  all  sorts 
of  things.  Do  you  think  it's  too  late  for  him 
to  get  it  now?" 

"I  don't  know.  It  is  pretty  late,"  said 
his  father.  "Why  didn't  you  ask  him  to 
send  these  things  to  Johnny  when  you 
wrote  your  other  letter?" 

"I  did  not  think  of  it,"  said  Tommy, 
frankly.    "I  forgot  him." 

"Do  you  ask  only  for  yourself?" 

"No.  For  little  Sis  and  Mother  and 
Peake  and  one  other,  but  I'm  not  going  to 
tell  you  who  he  is." 

21 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

His  father  smiled.    "Not  Johnny?" 
"No,"  said  Tommy.    "I  forgot  him." 
"I  am  afraid  I  did,  too,"  said  his  father 
slowly.      "Well,    write    another    and    try. 
You  can  never  tell.    Trying  is  better  than 
crying." 

This  was  two  days  before  Christmas. 
And  the  next  afternoon  Tommy  went  again 
with  his  father  to  the  coasting-hill  to  see 
the  boys  and  once  more  take  a  coast  with 
Johnny.  But  no  Johnny  was  there  and  no 
other  boy  asked  Tommy  if  he  wanted  a  ride. 
So,  they  returned  home  much  disappointed, 
his  father  telling  him  more  about  the  Eski- 
mos and  the  polar  bears.  But,  just  as  they 
were  turning  the  corner  before  reaching  the 
gate  which  led  into  their  grounds,  they 
came  on  Johnny  struggling  along  through 
the  snow,  under  the  weight  of  a  big  basket 
full  of  bundles.    At  sight  of  them  he  swung 

22 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


the  basket  down  in  the  snow  with  a  loud, 
"Whew,  that's  heavy!  I  tell  you."  Tommy 
ran  forward  to  meet  him. 

"  We  have  been  looking  for  you,"  he  said. 

"I  could  not  go  to-day,"  explained 
Johnny.  "I  had  to  work.  I  am  working 
for  Mr.  Bucket  to-day  to  make  some  money 
to  buy  Christmas  things." 

"How  much  do  you  make?"  asked 
Tommy's  father. 

"Half  a  dollar  to-day,  if  I  work  late.  I 
generally  make  ten  cents,  sometimes  fifteen." 

"That  is  a  pretty  heavy  load — in  the 
snow,"  said  Tommy's  father,  as  Johnny 
stooped  and  swung  his  basket  up  on  his  hip. 

"Oh,  I  can  manage  it,"  said  the  boy, 
cheerfully.  "A  boy  stole  my  sled  last  night, 
or  I  would  carry  it  on  that." 

"Stole  your  sled!"  cried  Tommy. 

"Yes,  I  left  it  outside  the  door  when  I 
23 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

was  getting  my  load  to  put  on,  and  when  I 
came  out  it  was  gone.  I  wish  I  could 
catch  him." 

*'I  am  going  to  watch  for  him,  too,"  said 
Tommy. 

*'If  I  had  a  box  I  could  make  another 
one,"  said  Johnny.  "Maybe,  Mr.  Bucket 
will  give  me  one  after  Christmas.  He  said 
maybe  he  would.  Then  I  will  give  you  an- 
other ride."  He  called  over  his  shoulder  to 
them,  as  he  trudged  off,  "Well,  good-by. 
I  hope  you  will  have  a  merry  Christmas, 
and  that  Santa  Claus  will  bring  you  lots  of 
things,"  and  away  he  trudged.  They  wished 
him  a  merry  Christmas,  too,  and  then  turned 
into  their  grounds. 

"Father,"  said  Tommy,  suddenly,  "let's 
give  Johnny  a  sled." 

"Yes,"  said  his  father,  "you  might  give 
him  yours — the  one  you  got  last  Christmas." 

24 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


"I  haven't  got  it  now.  It's  gone,"  said 
Tommy. 

"Did  some  one  take  it — like  Johnny's?" 

"No, I  broke  it,"  said  Tommy,  crestfallen. 

"You  might  mend  it?"  suggested  his 
father. 

"I  broke  it  all  up,"  said  Tommy,  sadly. 

"Ah,   that   is   a   pity,"   said   his  father. 

Tommy  was  still  thinking. 

"Father,  why  can't  I  give  him  a  box?" 
he  said.  "The  basement  and  the  wood- 
shed are  full  of  big  boxes." 

"Why  not  give  him  the  one  I  gave  you 
a  few  days  ago?" 

"I  broke  it  up,  too,"  said  Tommy  shame- 
facedly. 

"Oh,"  said  his  father.    "That's  a  pity. 
Johnny  could  have  made  a  sled  out  of  it." 
Tommy  felt  very  troubled,  and  he  began 
to  think  what  he  might  do. 
25 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

"If  you  will  give  me  another,  I  will  give 
it  to  Johnny,"  he  said  presently. 

"Why,  I'll  tell  you  what  I  will  do,"  said 
his  father.  "I  will  furnish  the  box  if  you 
will  carry  it  over  to  Johnny's  home." 

"All  right.  I  will  do  it,"  said  Tommy 
promptly.  So  as  soon  as  they  reached 
home  Tommy  dived  down  into  the  base- 
ment and  soon  came  out,  puffing  and  blow- 
ing, dragging  along  with  him  a  big  box  as 
high  as  his  head. 

"I  am  afraid  that  is  too  big  for  you  to 
carry,"  suggested  his  father. 

"Oh,  I  will  make  Richard  carry  it." 

"Richard  is  my  servant,  not  yours,"  said 
his  father.  "Besides,  you  were  to  carry  it 
yourself." 

"It  is  too  big  for  me.  The  snow  is  too 
deep." 

"Now,  if  you  had  not  broken  up  your 
26 


TO   SANTA   CLAUS 


sled  you  might  carry  it  on  that,"  said  his 
father. 

"Yes,"  said  Tommy  sadly.  "I  wish  I 
had  not  broken  it  up.  I'll  be  bound  that  I 
don't  break  up  the  next  one  I  get." 

"That's  a  good  beginning,"  said  his 
father.  "But  wishing  alone  will  never  do 
anything,  not  even  if  you  had  the  magical 
wishing-cap  I  read  you  about.  You  must 
not  only  wish;  you  must  help  yourself. 
Now,  Johnny  would  make  a  sled  out  of 
that  box." 

"I  wish  I  could,"  said  Tommy.  "I 
would  try  if  I  had  some  tools.  I  wish  I  had 
some  tools." 

"What  tools  would  you  need  ?" 

Tommy  thought  a  minute.  "  Why,  a  ham- 
mer and  some  nails." 

"A    hammer    and    nails    would    hardly 
make  a  sled  by  themselves." 
27 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

"Why,  no.    I  wish  I  had  a  saw,  too." 
"I  thought  Santa  Claus  brought  you  all 
these  tools  last  Christmas?"  suggested  his 
father. 

"He  did;  but  I  lost  them,"  said  Tommy. 

"Did  you  ever  hunt  for  them  ?" 

"Some.    I  have  hunted  for  the  hammer." 

"Well,  suppose  you  hunt  again.     Look 

everywhere.     If  you  find  any  I  might  lend 

you  the  others.     You  might  look  in  my 

lumber  room."     Tommy  ran  off  and  soon 

returned  with  a  hammer  and  some   nails 

which  he  had  found,  and  a  few  minutes  later 

his  father   brought   a  saw  and  a   hatchet, 

and    they    selected    a    good     box,    which 

Tommy  could  drag  out,  and  put  it  in  the 

back  hall. 

"Now,"  said  Tommy,  "what  shall  we 
do  next?" 

"That  is  for  you  to  say,"  said  his  father. 


TO   SANTA   CLAUS 


"Johnny  does  not  ask  that  question.  He 
thinks  for  himself." 

"Well,  we  must  knock  this  box  to  pieces," 
said  Tommy. 

"I  think  so,  too,"  assented  his  father. 
"Very  carefully,  so  as  not  to  split  the 
boards." 

"Yes,  very  carefully,"  said  Tommy,  and 
he  began  to  hammer.  The  nails,  however, 
were  in  very  tight  and  there  was  a  strip  of 
iron  along  each  of  the  edges,  through  which 
they  were  driven,  so  it  was  hard  work;  but 
when  Tommy  really  tried  and  could  not 
get  the  boards  off,  his  father  helped  him, 
and  soon  the  strips  were  off  and  the  boards 
quickly  followed. 

"Now  what  shall  we  do?"  asked  his 
father. 

"Why,  we  must  make  the  sled." 

"Yes— but  how?" 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

"Why,  we  must  have  runners  and  then 
the  top  to  sit  on.    That's  all." 

"Very  well.  Go  ahead,"  said  his  father. 
So  Tommy  picked  up  two  boards  and 
looked  at  them.  But  they  were  square  at 
the  ends. 

"We  must  make  the  runners,"  he  said 
sadly. 

"That's  so,"  said  his  father. 

"Will  you  saw  them  for  me?"  asked 
Tommy. 

"Yes,  if  you  will  show  me  where  to  saw." 
Tommy  pondered. 

"Wait,"  he  said,  and  he  ran  off,  and  in  a 
moment  came  back  with  a  picture  of  a  sled 
in  a  magazine.  "Now  make  it  this  way," 
he  said,  showing  his  father  how  he  should 
saw  the  edges. 

He  was  surprised  to  see  how  well  his 
father  could  do  this,  and  his  admiration  for 
30 


TO   SANTA   CLAUS 


him  increased  as  he  found  that  he  could 
handle  the  tools  quite  as  well  as  Peake,  the 
farmer;  and  soon  the  sled  began  to  look 
like  a  real  sled  with  runners,  sawed  true, 
and  with  cross-pieces  for  the  feet  to  rest  on, 
and  even  with  a  strip  of  iron,  taken  from 
the  edges  of  the  boxes,  carefully  nailed  on 
the  bottom  of  the  runners. 

Suddenly  Tommy  cried,  "Father,  why 
not  give  Johnny  this  sled?" 

"The  very  thing!"  exclaimed  his  father 
with  a  smile.  And  Tommy  felt  quite  proud 
of  having  suggested  it. 

"I  wish  it  had  a  place  to  hitch  on  the 
goats,"  said  Tommy,  thoughtfully. 

"Let's  make  one,"  said  his  father;  and 
in  a  few  minutes  two  holes  were  bored  in 
the  front  of  the  runners. 

It  was  now  about  dusk,  and  Tommy  said 
he  would  like  to  take  the  sled  down  to 
31 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

Johnny's  house  and  leave  it  at  his  door 
where  he  could  find  it  when  he  came  home 
from  work,  and,  maybe,  he  might  think 
Santa  Claus  had  brought  it.  So  he  and  his 
father  went  together,  Tommy  dragging  the 
sled  and,  while  his  father  waited  at  the 
gate,  Tommy  took  the  sled  and  put  it  in 
the  yard  at  the  little  side-door  of  Johnny's 
home.  As  they  were  going  along,  he  said, 
pointing  to  a  small  shed-like  out-building 
at  the  end  of  the  little  yard,  "That's  the 
cow-house.  He  keeps  his  goats  there, 
too.  Don't  you  wish  Santa  Claus  would 
bring  his  mother  a  cow  ?  I  don't  see 
how  he  could  get  down  that  small  chim- 
ney!" he  said,  gazing  at  the  little  flue 
which  came  out  of  the  roof.  "I  wonder  if 
he  does?" 

"I  wonder  if  he  does?"  said  his  father  to 
himself. 

32 


TO   SANTA   CLAUS 


When  Tommy  slipped  back  again  and 
found  his  father  waiting  for  him  at  the 
gate,  he  thought  he  had  never  had  so 
fine  a  time  in  all  his  life.  He  determined 
to  make  a  sled  for  somebody  every  Christ- 
mas. 


II 


WHEN  they  reached  home  Tommy, 
after  warming  his  hands  and  tell- 
ing his  mother  about  the  sled,  set  to  work 
to  write  a  letter  to  Santa  Claus  on  behalf  of 
Johnny,  and  as  he  wrote,  a  number  of 
things  came  to  him  that  he  thought  Johnny 
would  like  to  have.  He  remembered  that 
he  had  no  gloves  and  that  his  hands  were 
very  red ;  that  his  cap  was  very  old  and  too 
small  for  him ;  that  a  real  flexible  flier  would 
be  a  fine  thing  for  him.  Then,  as  he  had 
34 


TOMMY  TROT'S   VISIT 

asked  for  a  gun  for  himself  to  hunt  polar 
bears  with  and  a  fur  coat  to  go  out  with  in 
the  snow,  he  added  these  in  Johnny's  letter 
also;  in  fact,  he  asked  for  Johnny  just  the 
things  he  had  asked  for  himself,  except  the 
goats,  and,  as  Johnny  had  two  goats,  it  was 
not  necessary  to  ask  for  them  for  him.  In- 
stead of  goats,  however,  he  asked  that  Santa 
Claus  might  give  Johnny's  mother  a  cow, 
as  good  as  one  of  their  cows.  As  he  was 
not  a  very  rapid  writer  it  took  him  some 
time  to  write  this  letter,  especially,  as  he  did 
not  know  how  to  spell  a  good  many  words, 
and  had  to  ask  his  mother  how  to  spell 
them,  for  his  father  had  gone  out  soon  after 
their  return  from  taking  the  sled  to  Johnny, 
and  immediately  after  showing  him  the 
picture  of  the  polar  bear  and  the  map  of 
the  North-pole  region.  Then  when  the 
letter  was  all  done,  signed  and  sealed, 
35 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

Tommy  carefully  dropped  it  in  the  fire 
in  the  library,  and  watched  it  as  it  first 
twisted  up,  then  burst  into  a  blaze,  and 
finally  disappeared  in  flame  and  smoke  up 
the  big  chimney,  hoping  that  it  would  blow 
away  like  the  wind  to  Santa  Claus  to  catch 
him  before  he  started  out  that  night  on  his 
round  of  visits. 

By  this  time  his  supper  was  ready  and  he 
found  that  he  was  very  hungry.  He  had 
no  sooner  finished  it  than  he  drew  up  in  a 
big  chair  by  the  warm  fire,  and  began  to 
wonder  whether  Santa  Claus  would  get  his 
letter  in  time,  and,  if  so,  what  he  would  bring 
Johnny.  The  fire  was  warm  and  his  eyes 
soon  began  "to  draw  straws,"  but  he  did 
not  wish  to  go  to  bed  quite  yet  and,  indeed, 
had  a  lingering  hope  that  when  his  father 
returned  he  might  coax  him  into  letting  him 
go  out  again  and  slide  with  Johnny  and 
36 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


then,  perhaps,  stand  a  chance  of  seeing 
Santa  Claus  come  up  the  long  hill,  with  his 
reindeer  flying  like  the  wind  over  the  snow 
and  taking  the  roofs  of  the  houses  with  a 
single  bound.  So  he  moved  over  to  the  sofa 
where  he  could  see  better,  and  where  it 
would  not  be  likely  his  sleepiness  would  be 
observed. 

The  last  thing  he  recalled  in  the  sitting- 
room  was  when  he  parted  the  heavy  cur- 
tains at  the  foot  of  the  sofa  and  looked  out 
at  the  snow  stretching  away  down  the  hill 
toward  the  woods,  and  shining  in  the  light 
of  the  great  round  moon  which  had  just 
come  up  over  the  side  of  the  yard  to  the 
eastward.  Then  he  curled  up  in  the  corner 
of  the  sofa  as  wide  awake  as  a  boy  could  be 
who  had  made  up  his  mind  to  keep  awake 
until  midnight.  The  next  thing  he  remem- 
bered was  Sate  jumping  up  and  snuggling 
37 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 


by  him,  and  the  next  was  his  father  coming 
in  and  telling  him  Johnny  was  waiting  out- 
side with  his  sled  and  the  two  goats  hitched 
to  it  to  take  a  long  ride,  and  his  wrapping 
him  up  carefully  in  his  heavy  overcoat.  In 
a  second  he  was  out  in  the  yard  and  made 
a  dash  for  the  cow-lot,  and  there,  sure 
enough,  was  Johnny  waiting  for  him  at  the 
gate  in  the  cow-pasture  with  a  curious  little 
peaked  cap  on  his  head  and  his  coat  collar 
turned  up  around  his  chin  and  tied  with  a 
great  red  comforter,  so  that  only  his  eyes 
and  nose  peeped  over  it.  As  Tommy  had 
never  seen  Johnny  with  that  cap  on  before, 
he  asked  him  where  he  had  got  it,  and  he 
said  he  had  swapped  caps  with  a  little  old 
man  he  had  met  driving  a  cow  in  the  road 
as  he  came  home.  He  could  not  keep  this 
cap  on  his  head,  so  Johnny  had  given  him  his 
in  place  of  it,  as  it  fitted  him  very  well.  And 
38 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


there  were  the  two  goats  hitched  to  the  very 
sled  Tommy  had  made.  In  a  minute  they 
were  on  the  sled,  Tommy  in  front  with  the 
reins  and  Johnny  sitting  behind.  Just  as 
they  were  about  to  start,  to  Tommy's  hor- 
ror, out  came  Sate,  and  do  as  they  might, 
Sate  would  not  go  back ;  but  jumped  up  on 
the  sled  and  settled  down  at  Tommy's  feet, 
and  as  Johnny  said  he  did  not  mind  and 
that  Sate  would  keep  Tommy's  feet  warm, 
they  let  him  stay,  which  proved  in  the  end 
to  be  a  very  fortunate  thing.  Just  after  they 
had  fixed  themselves  comfortably,  Johnny 
said,  "Are  you  ready?"  "Ready!"  said 
Tommy,  and  gathered  up  the  reins,  and  the 
next  moment  the  goats  started  off,  at  first 
at  a  walk  and  then  at  a  little  trot,  while 
Tommy  was  telling  Johnny  what  his  father 
had  told  him  about  the  night  in  Santa 
Claus's  country  being  so  long  that  sometimes 
39 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

the  sun  did  not  rise  above  the  horizon  for 
several  months. 

"If  it's  as  long  as  that,"  said  Johnny,  "we 
might  go  and  see  the  old  fellow  and  get 
back  before  midnight  ?  I  wish  we  could  go." 

"So  do  I,"  said  Tommy,  "but  I'm  afraid 
we  might  not  find  our  way."  He  remem- 
bered just  then  that  all  one  had  to  do  was  to 
steer  by  the  North  Star,  and  at  that  mo- 
ment he  caught  sight  of  the  star  right  over 
the  goats'  heads. 

The  coast  was  clear  and  the  snow  was 
up  to  the  top  of  the  fences.  The  moon 
made  it  as  light  as  day  and  never  again 
would  there  be  such  a  chance.  It  came  to 
him,  too,  that  on  the  map  all  the  lines  ran 
together  at  the  North  Pole,  so  that  one 
could  hardly  miss  his  way,  and  if  he  should, 
there  were  Eskimos  to  guide  him.  So  when 
Johnny  said,  "Let's  go  and  try,"  he  agreed, 
40 


TO   SANTA   CLAUS 


for  if  they  once  got  there,  Santa  Claus, 
himself,  might  bring  them  back  with  him. 

For  a  moment  they  went  along  as  though 
they  were  coasting  down  a  hill,  with  the 
little  North  Star  shining  directly  in  front 
of  them  as  they  glided  along. 

Just  then  Tommy  said,  "I  wish  the  goats 
were  reindeer.     Let's  pretend  they  are." 

"So  do  I,"  said  Johnny. 

At  this  instant  something  happened;  the 
goats  gave  a  jump  which  sent  a  cloud  of 
fine  snow  up  into  the  boys'  faces;  the  sled 
gave  a  great  leap  and  on  a  sudden  they 
began  to  tear  along  like  the  wind.  The 
snow-fields  flew  by  them,  and  the  trees, 
standing  up  to  their  knees  in  snow,  simply 
tore  along  to  the  rear. 

"They  are  running  away!"  said  Tommy, 
as  soon  as  he  could  catch  his  breath. 

"All  right.  Let  them  run,"  said  Johnny. 
41 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

"But  steer  by  the  North  Star."  And  so 
they  did. 

When  the  cloud  of  snow  in  their  faces 
cleared  away,  Tommy  could  scarcely  be- 
lieve his  eyes. 

"Look,  Johnny!"  he  cried.  "They  are 
real  reindeer.  Real  live  ones.  Look  at 
their  antlers." 

"I  know,"  said  Johnny.  "That  little 
man  said  he  wanted  to  swap  with  me." 

So  they  flew  on,  up  hill  and  down  dale, 
over  fields  of  white  snow  where  the  fences 
and  rocks  were  buried  and  the  cuts  were 
filled  up  level;  down  frozen  streams,  wind- 
ing through  great  forests  where  the  pines 
were  mantled  with  white;  in  between  great 
walls  of  black  rock  towering  above  them, 
with  the  stars  shining  down  like  fires;  out 
again  across  the  vast  stretches  of  snow  with 
the  Pole  Star  ever  twisting  and  turning  and 
42 


They  flew  on,  over  fields  of  white  snow. 


TO   SANTA   CLAUS 


coming  before  them  again,  until  the  sky 
seemed  lit  up  with  wonderful  colours,  and 
great  bands  of  light  were  shooting  up  and 
sinking  down  only  to  shoot  up  again  with 
a  crackling  like  packs  of  pop-crackers  in  the 
distance. 

The  wind  sang  in  their  ears,  nipped  their 
noses,  and  made  Tommy  drowsy,  and 
presently  he  must  have  fallen  asleep;  for 
just  as  he  was  conscious  that  Johnny  had 
taken  the  reins,  and,  with  one  arm  on  either 
side  of  him  was  holding  him  on  his  shoul- 
der, there  was  a  great  jolt  and  a  sort  of 
crash  as  of  breaking  through.  He  would 
have  fallen  off  the  sled  if  Johnny  had  not 
held  him  tight. 

When  he  opened  his  eyes  they  seemed  to 

be  passing  through  a  sort  of  silvery  haze, 

as    though    the    moonlight    were    shining 

through  a  fine  mist  of  silvery  drops  which 

43 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

shed  the  softest  radiance  over  everything. 
And  suddenly  through  this  enchanting  light 
they  came  to  a  beautiful  city,  with  walls 
around  it  of  crystal,  all  rimmed  with  gold, 
like  the  clouds  at  sunset.  Before  them  was 
a  great  gate  through  which  shone  a  wonder- 
ful light,  and  inside  they  saw  a  wide  street 
all  lit  up.  As  they  reached  the  gate  there 
was  a  sort  of  peal,  as  of  bells,  and  out  poured 
a  guard  of  little  men  in  uniform  with  little 
swords  at  their  sides  and  guns  in  their 
hands,  who  saluted,  while  their  officer,  who 
had  a  letter  in  his  hand,  halted  them  with 
a  challenge. 

"Who  goes  there?" 

"  Friends,"  said  Tommy,  standing  up  and 
saluting,  as  he  had  seen  soldiers  do  at  the  fort. 

"Advance,  friends,  and  give  the  counter- 
sign." Tommy  thought  they  were  lost 
and  his  heart  sank. 

44 


TO  SANTA  CLAUS 


But  Johnny  said,  " 'Good- will. '" 

"All  right,"  said  the  captain  and  stepped 
back. 

"Who  gave  you  that  sled  ?"  he  asked. 

"Tommy,"  said  Johnny.  "This  little 
boy  here  made  it  and  gave  it  to  me." 

"This  is  the  one,"  said  the  captain  to  a 
guard,  looking  at  a  letter  in  his  hand.  "  Let 
them  by." 

They  drove  in  at  the  gate  and  found 
themselves  in  a  broad  street  filled  with  en- 
chanting things  more  beautiful  than  Tommy 
had  ever  dreamed  of.  The  trees  which 
lined  it  were  Christmas  trees,  and  the 
lights  on  them  made  the  street  as  bright 
as  noonday. 

Here  the  reindeer  slackened  their  pace, 

and  as  they  turned  down  the  great  street 

they  could  see  through  the  windows  rooms 

brilliantly  lighted,  in  which  were  hosts  of 

45 


TOMMY  TROTS  VISIT 

people  bustling  about  as  busy  as  bees,  work- 
ing at  Christmas  things  of  all  sorts  and 
descriptions.  They  suddenly  came  to  the 
gate  of  a  great  palace-like  place,  which  the 
reindeer  appeared  to  know,  for  they  turned 
in  at  the  gate  just  as  Tommy's  father's 
horses  always  turned  in  at  their  gate  at 
home,  and  as  they  drove  up  to  the  door, 
with  a  shout  of,  "Here  they  are!"  out 
poured  a  number  of  the  same  little  people — 
like  those  they  had  already  seen  at  the 
gate.  Some  helped  them  out,  some  stood 
like  a  guard,  and  some  took  their  reindeer 
to  drive  them  to  the  stable. 

"You  are  just  in  time,"  said  the  captain 
of  this  party,  as  he  stepped  forward  and 
saluted  them.  "The  old  Gentleman  has 
been  waiting  for  you,  sending  out  to  the 
gate  to  watch  for  you  all  evening." 

Tommy  was  about  to  ask,  "How  did  he 
46 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


know  we  were  coming?"  but  before  he 
could  get  the  words  out,  the  little  man  said, 
"Oh,  he  knows  all  that  boys  do,  especially 
about  Christmas  time.    That's  his  business." 

"My!"  thought  Tommy,  "I  shall  have  to 
mind  what  I  even  think  up  here.  He  an- 
swers just  as  if  I  had  said  it.  I  hope  he 
knows  what  I  want  for  Christmas." 

"Wait  and  see,"  said  the  little  man;  and 
Tommy,  though  he  was  glad  to  hear  it,  de- 
termined not  to  think  any  more  just  then, 
but  he  was  sorry  he  had  not  thought  to  wish 
for  more  things  while  he  was  wishing. 

"Oh,  don't  worry  about  that,"  said  the 
guard.  "Santa  Claus  doesn't  care  much 
what  you  ask  for  for  yourself.  Even  if  he 
gives  those  things,  you  soon  get  tired  of 
them  or  lose  them  or  break  them  up.  It 
is  the  things  one  asks  for  for  others  that 
he  gives  pleasure  with.  That's  the  reason 
47 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

he  has  such  a  good  time  himself,  because  he 
gives  all  the  things  to  others." 

Tommy  tried  to  think  what  he  had  ever 
given  to  any  one.  He  had  given  pieces  of 
candy  and  cake  when  he  had  plenty,  but 
the  sled  was  the  only  thing  he  had  ever 
really  given.  He  was  about  to  mention  this 
when  the  guard  mentioned  it  for  him. 

"Oh,  that  sled  was  all  right,"  he  said, 
with  a  little  nod.  "  Come  in,"  and  the  great 
ice-doors  opened  before  them,  and  in  they 
walked. 

They  passed  through  a  great  hall,  all  ice, 
as  transparent  as  glass,  though  curiously  it 
was  warm  and  dry  and  rilled  with  every 
kind  of  Christmas  "things:" — everything 
that  Tommy  had  ever  seen,  and  a  myriad 
more  that  he  had  never  dreamed  of.  They 
were  packed  and  stacked  on  either  side, 
and  a  lot  of  little  people,  like  those  he  had 
48 


TO  SANTA  CLAUS 


already  seen,  were  working  among  them, 
tossing  them  about  and  shouting  to  each 
other  with  glee  to  "Look  out,"  just  as  the 
boys  did  when  coasting  on  the  hill. 

"I  tell  you,"  said  one,  "the  Governor  will 
have  a  busy  time  to-night.  It  beats  last 
Christmas."  And  he  made  a  run  and  a 
jump,  and  lit  on  a  big  pile  of  bundles  which 
suddenly  toppled  over  with  him  and  nearly 
buried  him  as  he  sprawled  on  the  slippery 
floor.  This  seemed  a  huge  joke  to  all  the 
others  and  they  screamed  with  laughter  at 
"Old  Smartie,"  as  they  called  him,  and 
poured  more  bundles  down  on  him,  just  as 
though  they  were  having  a  pillow-fight. 
Then  when  Old  Smartie  had  at  last  gotten 
on  his  feet,  they  had  a  great  game  of  tag 
among  the  piles  and  over  them,  and  the 
first  thing  Tommy  knew  he  and  Johnny 
were  at  it  as  hard  as  anybody.  He  was  very 
49 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

proud  because  Johnny  could  jump  over  piles 
as  high  as  the  best  of  them.  Tommy,  himself, 
however,  could  not  jump;  for  they  led  him 
to  a  pile  so  high  that  he  could  not  see  over 
it ;  and  on  top  were  the  fragments  of  all  the 
things  he  had  ever  had  and  had  broken  up. 
He  could  not  help  crying  a  little;  but  just 
then  in  dashed  a  number  of  little  men  and 
gathering  them  up,  rushed  out  with  them. 
Tommy  was  wondering  what  they  were 
going  to  do  with  them,  when  his  friend,  the 
guard,  said:  "We  mend  some  of  them; 
and  some  we  keep  to  remind  you  with. 
Now  try  again."  Tommy  tried  and  did 
very  well,  only  his  left  foot  had  gone  to  sleep 
in  the  sled  and  had  not  quite  waked  up. 

"That  was  because  Sate  went  to  sleep 
on  it,"  said  his  friend,  the  guard,  and 
Tommy  wondered  how  he  knew  Sate's 
name. 

50 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


"  Why,"  said  the  guard,  "  we  have  to  know 
dogs'  names  to  keep  them  from  barking  at  us 
and  waking  everybody  up.  Let  me  lend  you 
these  boots,"  and  with  that  he  kicked  off  his 
boots.  "Now,  jump,"  and  Tommy  gave 
a  jump  and  lit  in  them,  as  he  sometimes 
did  in  his  father's  shoes.  No  sooner  had 
Tommy  put  them  on  than  he  found  that 
he  could  jump  over  the  highest  pile  in  the 
room. 

"Look,  look!"  cried  several  of  the  others. 
"The  captain  has  lent  that  little  boy  his 
'Seven  Leaguers.'" 

"I  know  where  he  is  going,"  said  one; 
"to  jump  over  the  North  Pole." 

"No,"  laughed  another.  "He  is  going 
to  catch  the  cow  that  'jumped  over  the 
moon,'  for  Johnny  Stout's  mother." 

Just  then  a  message  came  that  "Old 
Santa,"  as  they  called  him,  was  waiting  to 
51 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

see  the  two  boys  who  had  come  in  the  new 
box-sled,  as  he  wanted  to  know  how  their 
mothers  were  and  what  they  wished  for 
Christmas.  So  there  was  a  great  scurrying 
to  get  their  heads  brushed  before  the  bell 
rang  again,  and  Tommy  got  soap  in  his 
eyes  wetting  the  brush  to  make  his  hair  lie 
smooth,  while  Johnny's  left  shoe  came  off 
and  dropped  in  a  hole  in  the  floor.  Smartie, 
however,  told  him  that  that  was  for  the 
"Old  Woman  who  lived  in  a  shoe"  to  feed 
her  cow  in,  and  this  was  considered  a  great 
joke. 

The  next  minute  the  door  opened  and 
they  entered  a  great  apartment,  filled  with 
the  softest  light  from  a  blazing  fire,  and 
Tommy  was  sure  it  was  his  father's  back 
before  him  at  the  fireplace;  but  when  the 
man  turned  it  was  Santa  Claus,  only  he  did 
not  have  on  his  whiskers,  and  looked  ever 
52 


Look,  Look!     The  captain  has  lent  that  little  boy  his 
'  Seven  Leaguers.'  " 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


so  much  younger  than  in  his  pictures.  At 
first  he  did  not  even  look  at  them,  he  was 
so  busy  receiving  mail  that  came  fluttering 
down  the  chimney  in  a  perfect  snowstorm. 
As  the  letters  came  he  gathered  them  up 
and  handed  them  to  a  lady  who  was  seated 
on  the  floor,  saying,  "Put  that  in,"  to 
which  the  lady  always  answered,  "Just 
the  thing,"  in  a  voice  so  like  his  mother's 
that  Tommy  felt  quite  at  home.  He  was 
just  wondering  when  "Sometime"  would 
come,  when  Santa  Claus  picked  up  a  letter, 
which  had  been  thrown  on  the  floor,  and 
tossed  it  to  the  lady,  saying,  "Here's  that 
letter  from  that  little  boy,  Tommy  Trot. 
Put  some  of  those  things  in  so  he  can  break 
them  up.  He  asked  only  for  himself  and 
much  joy  he  will  get  out  of  them."  Tommy 
shrank  back  behind  Johnny.  He  wanted 
to  say  that  he  had  written  another  letter  to 
53 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

ask  for  things  for  others,  but  he  had  lost 
his  tongue.  Just  then,  however,  Santa 
Claus  put  up  his  hand  and  pulled  out  an- 
other letter. 

"Now,"  he  said,  as  he  glanced  at  it, 
"  this  is  more  like  it.  He  is  improving.  I  see 
he  has  asked  for  a  lot  of  things  for  a  friend 
of  his  named  Johnny.  Johnny  Stout — who 
is  he  ?  It  seems  to  me  I  hardly  remember 
him  or  where  he  lives." 

"Yes,"  said  Johnny,  stepping  up. 
"That's  me.  He  gave  me  a  sled,  too,  and 
he  made  it  himself."  Santa  Claus  turned 
and  looked  at  him  and  his  expression 
turned  to  a  smile;  in  fact,  Tommy  thought 
he  really  winked  at  Johnny. 

"Oh,  I  know  that  sled.  It  was  a  pretty 
good  sled,  too,"  he  said. 

This  gave  Tommy  courage,  and  he 
stepped  forward  and  said,  "He  lives  in  a 
54 


TO   SANTA   CLAUS 


little  bit  of  a  house  near  our  place — just  that 
way — "  He  turned  and  pointed.  "I'll 
show  it  to  you  when  you  come." 

"Good,"  said  Santa  Claus.  "I'll  show 
it  to  you  and  you  show  it  to  me.  We  are 
apt  to  overlook  those  little  houses.  So  you 
are  Tommy  Trot?"  he  said.  "Glad  to  see 
you,"  and  he  turned  and  held  out  his  hand 
to  Tommy.  "I  sent  my  reindeer  to  fetch 
you  and  I  am  glad  you  made  that  sled,  for 
it  is  only  a  sled  made  for  others  that  can 
get  up  here..  You  see,  everything  here, 
except  the  North  Pole,  is  made  for  some 
one  else,  and  that's  the  reason  we  have  such 
a  good  time  up  here.  If  you  like,  I'll  take 
you  around  and  show  you  and  Johnny  our 
shops."  This  was  exactly  what  Tommy 
wanted,  so  he  thanked  him  politely. 

"I'll  be  back  in  a  little  while,"  said  Santa 
Claus  to  the  lady,  "for  as  soon  as  the  boys 
55 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

are  all  asleep  I  must  set  out.  I  have  a  great 
many  stockings  to  fill  this  year.  See  that 
everything  is  ready.  Come  along,  boys," 
and  next  minute  they  were  going  through 
room  after  room  and  shop  after  shop,  filled 
with  so  many  things  that  Tommy  could  not 
keep  them  straight  in  his  mind.  He  won- 
dered how  any  one  could  have  thought  of 
so  many  things,  except  his  mother,  of 
course;  she  always  thought  of  everything 
for  everyone.  Some  of  them  he  wished 
for,  but  every  time  he  thought  of  wanting 
a  thing  for  himself  the  lights  got  dim,  so 
that  he  stopped  thinking  about  himself  at 
all,  and  turned  to  speak  to  Johnny,  but  he 
was  gone. 

Presently  Santa  Claus  said:    "These  are 

just  my  stores.     Now  we  will  go  and  see 

where  some  of  these  things  are  made.'*    He 

gave  a  whistle,   and  the  next  second  up 

56 


TO  SANTA  CLAUS 


dashed  a  sled  with  a  team  of  reindeer  in  it, 
and  who  was  there  holding  the  reins  but 
Johnny,  with  his  little  cap  perched  on  the 
top  of  his  head!  At  Tommy's  surprise 
Santa  Claus  gave  a  laugh  that  made  him 
shake  all  over  like  a  bowl  full  of  jelly,  quite 
as  Tommy  had  read  he  did  in  a  poem  he 
had  learned  the  Christmas  before,  called 
"The  Night  Before  Christmas,  when  all 
through  the  house." 

"That  comes  of  knowing  how  to  drive 
goats,"  said  Santa  Claus.  "Johnny  knows 
a  lot  and  I  am  going  to  give  him  a  job, 
because  he  works  so  hard,"  and  with  that 
Tommy's  boots  suddenly  jumped  him  into 
the  sled,  and  Santa  Claus  stepped  in  be- 
hind him  and  pulled  up  a  big  robe  over 
them. 

"Here  goes,"  he  said,  and  at  the  word 
they  turned  the  corner,  and  there  was  a  gate 
51 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

of  ice  that  looked  like  the  mirrored  doors 
in  Tommy's  mother's  room,  which  opened 
before  them,  and  they  dashed  along  be- 
tween great  piles  of  things,  throwing  them 
on  both  sides  like  snow  from  a  sled-runner, 
and  before  Tommy  knew  it  they  were  glid- 
ing along  a  road,  which  Tommy  felt  he  had 
seen  somewhere  before,  though  he  could  not 
remember  where.  The  houses  on  the  road- 
side did  not  seem  to  have  any  front-walls  at 
all,  and  everywhere  the  people  within  were 
working  like  beavers;  some  sewing,  some 
cutting  out,  some  sawing  and  hammering, 
all  making  something,  all  laughing  or 
smiling.  They  were  mostly  dressed  like 
grown-up  people,  but  when  they  turned 
their  faces  they  all  looked  young.  Tommy 
was  wondering  why  this  was,  when  Santa 
Claus  said  that  was  because  they  were 
"Working  for  others.  They  grow  young 
58 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


every  Christmas.  This  is  Christmas  Land 
and  Kindness  Town."  They  turned  an- 
other corner  and  were  whisking  by  a  little 
house,  inside  of  which  was  some  one  sewing 
for  dear  life  on  a  jacket.  Tommy  knew  the 
place  by  the  little  backyard. 

"Stop,  stop!"  he  cried, pointing.  "That's 
Johnny's  home  and  that's  Johnny's  mother 
sewing.  She's  laughing.  I  expect  she's 
making  that  for  Johnny." 

"Where?"  asked  Santa  Claus,  turning. 
Tommy  pointed  back,  "There,  there!"  but 
they  had  whisked  around  a  corner. 

"I  was  so  busy  looking  at  that  big  house 
that  I  did  not  see  it,"  said  Santa  Claus. 

"That's  our  house,"  said  Tommy.  "I 
tell  you  what,"  he  said  presently,  "if  I  get 
anything — I'll  give  him  some."  Santa 
Claus  smiled. 

So  they  dashed  along,  making  all  sorts  of 
59 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

turns  and  curves,  through  streets  lined  with 
shops  full  of  Christmas  things  and  thronged 
with  people  hurrying  along  with  their  arms 
full  of  bundles ;  out  again  into  the  open ;  by 
little  houses  half  buried  in  snow,  with  a 
light  shining  dimly  through  their  upper 
windows;  on  through  forests  of  Christmas 
trees,  hung  with  toys  and  not  yet  lighted, 
and  presently  in  a  wink  were  again  at 
Santa  Claus's  home,  in  a  great  hall.  All 
along  the  sides  were  cases  filled  with  all 
sorts  of  toys,  guns,  uniforms,  sleds,  skates, 
snow-shoes,  fur  gloves,  fur  coats,  books, 
toy-dogs,  ponies,  goats,  cows,  everything. 


60 


Ill 


TOMMY  was  just  thinking  how  he 
would  love  to  carry  his  mother  a  po- 
lar bearskin  for  his  father,  and  his  father  a 
sealskin  coat  for  his  mother,  when  Santa 
Claus  came  up  behind  him  and  tweaked 
his  ear. 

"Ah!"  he  said,  "so  you  want  something 
— something  you  can't  get?" 

"Not  for  myself,"  said  Tommy,  shame- 
facedly. 
"  So»"  said  Santa  Claus,  with  a  look  much 
61 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

like  Tommy's  father  when  he  was  pleased. 
"I  know  that.  They  don't  have  them  ex- 
actly about  here.  The  teddy-bears  drove 
them  out.  You  have  to  go  away  off  to  find 
them."  He  waved  his  hand  to  show  how 
far  off  it  was. 

"I  should  like  to  hunt  them,  if  I  only 
had  a  gun!"  said  Tommy; — "and  one  for 
Johnny,  too,"  he  added  quickly. 

Santa  Claus  winked  again.  "Well,"  he 
said  slowly,  just  as  Tommy's  father  always 
did  when  Tommy  asked  for  something  and 
he  was  considering — "well,  I'll  think  about 
it."  He  walked  up  and  touched  a  spring,  and 
the  glass  door  flew  open.  "  Try  these  guns," 
he  said;  and  Tommy  tipped  up  and  took 
one  out.  It,  however,  seemed  a  little  light 
to  shoot  polar  bears  with  and  he  put  it 
back  and  took  another.  That,  however, 
was  rather  heavy. 

62 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


"Try  this,"  said  Santa  Claus,  handing 
him  one,  and  it  was  the  very  thing.  "Load 
right;  aim  right;  and  shoot  right,"  said  he, 
"  and  you'll  get  your  prize  every  time.  And, 
above  all,  stand  your  ground." 

"Now,  if  I  only  had  some  dogs!"  thought 
Tommy,  looking  around  at  a  case  full  of 
all  sorts  of  animals;  ponies  and  cows;  and 
dogs  and  cats;  some  big,  some  little,  and 
some  middle-sized.  "I  wish  those  were 
real  dogs." 

"Where's  Sate?"  asked  Santa  Claus. 

"Sate  can't  pull  a  sled,"  said  Tommy. 
"He's  too  little.  Besides,  he  ain't  an  Es- 
kimo dog — I  mean  he  isn't,"  he  corrected 
quickly,  seeing  Santa  Claus  look  at  him. 
"But  he's  awful  bad  after  cats."  Just  then, 
to  his  horror,  he  saw  Sate  in  the  show-case 
with  his  eye  on  a  big,  white  cat.  He  could 
hardly  keep  from  crying  out;  but  he  called 
63 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

to  him  very  quietly,  "Come  here,  come 
here,  Sate.  Don't  you  hear  me,  sir? 
Come  here." 

He  was  just  about  to  go  up  and  seize 
him  when  Santa  Claus  said:  "He's  all 
right.    He's  just  getting  acquainted." 

"My!  how  much  he  talks  like  Peake," 
thought  Tommy.  "I  wonder  if  he  is  his 
uncle." 

Just  then  Sate  began  to  nose  among  some 
little  brownish-gray  dogs,  and  so,  Tommy 
called,  "Here — come  here — come  along," 
and  out  walked  not  only  Sate,  but  six  other 
dogs,  and  stood  in  a  line  just  as  though  they 
were  hitched  to  a  sled,  the  six  finest  Eskimo 
dogs  Tommy  had  ever  seen. 

"Aren't  they  beauties!"  said  Santa  Claus. 
"I  never  saw  a  finer  lot;  big-boned,  broad- 
backed,  husky  fellows.  They'll  scale  an 
ice-mountain  like  my  reindeer.  And  if 
64 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


they  ever  get  in  sight  of  a  bear ! "  He  made 
a  gesture  as  much  as  to  say,  "Let  him  look 
out." 

"What  are  their  names?"  said  Tommy, 
who  always  wanted  to  know  every  one's 
name. 

"Buster  and  Muster  and  Fluster,  and 
Joe  and  Rob  and  Mac." 

"Ain't  one  of  them  named  Towser?" 
asked  Tommy.  "I  thought  one  was  always 
named  Towser." 

"No,  that's  a  book-name,"  said  Santa 
Claus  so  scornfully  that  Tommy  was  sorry 
he  had  asked  him,  especially  as  he  added, 
"Isn't,  not  ain't." 

"But  they  haint  any  harness,"  said  Tom- 
my, using  the  word  Peake  always  used, — 
"I  mean,  hisn't  any — no,  I  mean  haven't 
any  harness.  I  wish  I  had  some  harness 
for  them." 

65 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

"Pooh!  wishing  doesn't  do  anything  by 
itself,"  said  Santa  Claus. 

"Oh!  I  tell  you.  I've  a  lot  of  string 
that  came  off  some  Christmas  things 
my  mother  got  for  some  poor  people.  I 
put  it  in  my  pocket  to  give  it  to  Johnny 
to  mend  his  goat-harness  with,  and  I 
never  thought  of  it  when  I  saw  him  last 
night." 

"So,"  said  Santa  Claus.  "That's  better. 
Let's  see  it." 

Tommy  felt  in  his  pocket,  and  at  first  he 
could  not  find  it.  "I've  lost  it,"  he  said 
sorrowfully. 

"Try  again,"  said  Santa  Claus. 

Tommy  felt  again  in  a  careless  sort  of 
way. 

"No,  I've  lost  it,"  he  said.  "It  must 
have  dropped  out." 

"You're  always  losing  something,"  said 
66 


TO   SANTA   CLAUS 


Santa  Claus.  "Now,  Johnny  would  have 
used  that.    You  are  sure  you  had  it  ?" 

Tommy  nodded.  "Sure;  I  put  it  right 
in  this  pocket." 

"Then  you've  got  it  now.  Feel  in  your 
other  pockets." 

"I've  felt  there  two  times,"  said  Tommy. 

"Then  feel  again,"  said  Santa  Claus. 
And  Tommy  felt  again,  and  sure  enough, 
there  it  was.  He  pulled  it  out,  and  as  it 
came  it  turned  to  harness — six  sets  of  won- 
derful dog-harness,  made  of  curious  leather- 
thongs,  and  on  every  breast-strap  was  the 
name  of  the  dog. 

As  Tommy  made  a  dive  for  it  and  began 
to  put  the  harness  on  the  dogs,  Santa  Claus 
said,  "String  on  bundles  bought  for  others 
sometimes  comes  in  quite  handy." 

Even  then  Tommy  did  not  know  how  to 
put  the  harness  on  the  dogs.  As  fast  as  he 
67 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

got  it  on  one,  Sate  would  begin  to  play  with 
him  and  he  would  get  all  tangled  up  in  it. 
Tommy  could  have  cried  with  shame,  but 
he  remembered  what  his  father  had  told 
him  about,  "Trying  instead  of  crying";  so 
he  kept  on,  and  the  first  thing  he  knew  they 
were  all  harnessed.  Just  then  he  heard  a 
noise  behind  him  and  there  was  Johnny 
with  another  team  of  dogs  just  like  his, 
hitched  to  his  box-sled,  on  which  they  had 
come,  and  on  it  a  great  pile  of  things  tied, 
and  in  his  hand  a  list  of  what  he  had — food 
of  all  kinds  in  little  cans ;  bread  and  butter, 
and  even  cake,  like  that  he  had  given  away ; 
dried  beef;  pemmican;  coffee  and  tea,  all 
put  up  in  little  cases;  cooking  utensils;  a 
frying-pan  and  a  coffee-pot  and  a  few  other 
things — tin-cups  and  so  forth;  knives  and 
everything  that  he  had  read  that  boys  had 
when  they  went  camping,  matches  and  a 
68 


TO   SANTA   CLAUS 


flint-stone  in  a  box  with  tinder,  in  case  the 
matches  gave  out  or  got  wet;  hatchets  and 
saws  and  tools  to  make  ice-houses  or  to 
mend  their  sleds  with,  in  fact,  everything 
that  Tommy's  father  had  ever  told  him 
men  used  when  they  went  into  the  woods. 
And  on  top  of  all,  in  cases,  was  the  ammu- 
nition they  would  need. 

"Now,  if  we  had  a  tent,"  said  Johnny. 
But  Santa  Claus  said,  "You  don't  need 
tents  up  there." 

"I  know,"  said  Tommy.  "You  sleep  in 
bags  made  of  skin  or  in  houses  made  of  snow." 

Santa  Claus  gave  Johnny  a  wink.  "That 
boy  is  improving,"  he  said.  "He  knows 
some  things;"  and  with  that  he  took  out 
of  the  case  and  gave  both  Tommy  and 
Johnny  big  heavy  coats  of  whitish  fur  and 
two  bags  made  of  skin.  "And  now,"  he 
said,  "you  will  have  to  be  off  if  you  want  to 
69 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

get  back  here  before  I  leave,  for  though  the 
night  is  very  long,  I  must  be  getting  away 
soon,"  and  all  of  a  sudden  the  door  opened 
and  there  was  the  North  Star  straight  ahead, 
and  at  a  whistle  from  Santa  Claus  away 
went  the  dogs,  one  sled  right  behind  the 
other,  and  Sate,  galloping  for  life  and 
barking  with  joy,  alongside. 

The  last  thing  Tommy  heard  Santa  Claus 
say  was,  "Load  right,  aim  right,  and  shoot 
right;   and  stand  your  ground." 

In  a  short  time  they  were  out  of  the  light 
of  the  buildings  and  on  a  great  treeless 
waste  of  snow  and  ice,  much  rougher  than 
anything  Tommy  had  ever  seen;  where  it 
was  almost  dark  and  the  ice  seemed  to  turn 
up  on  edge.  They  had  to  work  their  way 
along  slowly  between  jagged  ice-peaks, 
and  sometimes  they  came  to  places  which  it 
seemed  they  could  never  get  over,  but  by 
70 


TO   SANTA   CLAUS 


dint  of  pushing  and  hauling  and  pulling, 
they  always  got  over  in  the  end.  The  first 
meal  they  took  was  only  a  bite,  because 
they  did  not  want  to  waste  time,  and  they 
were  soon  on  their  sleds  again,  dashing 
along,  and  Tommy  was  glad,  when,  after 
some  hours  of  hard  work,  Johnny  said  he 
thought  they  had  better  turn  in,  as  in  a  few 
hours  they  ought  to  be  where  Santa  Claus 
had  told  them  they  could  find  polar  bears, 
and  they  ought  to  be  fresh  when  they  struck 
their  tracks.  They  set  to  work,  unhitched 
the  dogs,  untied  the  packs  and  got  out  their 
camp-outfit,  and  having  dug  a  great  hole  in 
the  snow  behind  an  ice-peak,  where  the  wind 
did  not  blow  so  hard,  and  having  gathered 
some  dry  wood,  which  seemed  to  have  been 
caught  in  the  ice  as  if  on  purpose  for  them, 
they  lit  a  fire,  and  getting  out  their  frying- 
pan  they  stuck  two  chops  on  sticks  and 
71 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

toasted  them,  and  had  the  best  supper 
Tommy  had  ever  eaten.  The  bones  they 
gave  to  the  dogs.  Johnny  suggested  tying 
up  the  dogs,  but  Tonxmy  was  so  sleepy,  he 
said :  "  Oh,  no,  they  won't  go  away.  Besides, 
suppose  a  bear  should  come  while  we  are 
asleep."  They  took  their  guns  so  as  to  be 
ready  in  case  a  polar  bear  should  come 
nosing  around,  and  each  one  crawled  into 
his  bag  and  was  soon  fast  asleep,  Sate  hav- 
ing crawled  into  Tommy's  bag  with  him 
and  snuggled  up  close  to  keep  him  warm. 

It  seemed  to  Tommy  only  a  minute  be- 
fore he  heard  Johnny  calling,  and  he 
crawled  out  to  find  him  looking  around  in 
dismay.  Every  dog  had  disappeared  except 
Sate. 

"We  are  lost!"  said  Johnny.  "We  must 
try  to  get  back  or  we  shall  freeze  to  death." 
He  climbed  up  on  top  of  an  ice-peak  and 
72 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


looked  around  in  every  direction;  but  not 
a  dog  was  in  sight.  "We  must  hurry  up," 
he  said,  "and  go  back  after  them.  Why 
didn't  we  tie  them  last  night!  We  must 
take  something  to  eat  with  us."  So  they 
set  to  work  and  got  out  of  the  bag  all  they 
could  carry,  and  with  their  guns  and  ammu- 
nition were  about  to  start  back. 

"We  must  hide  the  rest  of  the  things  in 
a  cache,"  said  Tommy,  "so  that  if  we  ever 
come  back  we  may  find  them." 

"What's  a  cache?"  said  Johnny. 

Tommy  was  proud  that  he  knew  some- 
thing Johnny  did  not  know.  He  explained 
that  a  "cache"  was  a  hiding-place. 

So  they  put  the  things  back  in  the  bag 
and  covered  them  up  with  snow,  and 
Tommy,  taking  up  his  gun  and  pack,  gave  a 
whistle  to  Sate,  who  was  nosing  around.  Sud- 
denly the  snow  around  began  to  move,  and 
73 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

out  from  under  the  snow  appeared  first  the 
head  of  one  dog  and  then  of  another,  until 
every  one — Buster  and  Muster  and  Fluster 
and  the  rest — had  come  up  and  stood  shak- 
ing himself  to  get  the  snow  out  of  his  coat. 
Then  Tommy  remembered  that  his  father 
had  told  him  that  that  was  the  way  the 
Eskimo  dogs  often  kept  themselves  warm 
when  they  slept,  by  boring  down  deep  in 
the  snow.  Never  were  two  boys  more 
delighted.  In  a  jiffy  they  had  uncovered 
the  sled,  eaten  breakfast,  fed  the  dogs  and 
hitched  them  up  again,  and  were  once  more 
on  their  way.  They  had  not  gone  far, 
though  it  seemed  to  Tommy  a  long,  long 
way,  when  the  ice  in  the  distance  seemed 
to  Tommy  to  turn  to  great  mountain-like 
icebergs.  "That's  where  they  are,"  said 
Tommy.  "They  are  always  on  icebergs 
in  the  pictures."  Feeling  sure  that  they 
74 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


must  be  near  them,  they  tied  their  dogs  to 
the  biggest  blocks  of  ice  they  could  find,  and 
even  tied  Sate,  and  taking  each  his  gun  and 
a  bag  of  extra  ammunition,  they  started 
forward  on  foot.  As  Tommy's  ammunition 
was  very  heavy,  he  was  glad  when  Johnny 
offered  to  carry  it  for  him.  Even  so,  they 
had  not  gone  very  far,  though  it  seemed  far 
enough  to  Tommy,  when  he  proposed  turn- 
ing back  and  getting  something  to  eat.  As 
they  turned  they  lost  the  North  Star,  and 
when  they  looked  for  it  again  they  could  not 
tell  which  it  was.  Johnny  thought  it  was 
one,  Tommy  was  sure  it  was  another. 
So  they  tried  first  one  and  then  the  other, 
and  finally  gave  themselves  up  as  lost. 
They  went  supperless  to  bed  that  night  or 
rather  that  time,  and  Tommy  never  wished 
himself  in  bed  at  home  so  much,  or  said  his 
prayers  harder,  or  prayed  for  the  poor  more 
75 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

earnestly.  They  were  soon  up  again  and 
were  working  along  through  the  ice-peaks, 
growing  hungrier  and  hungrier,  when,  going 
over  a  rise  of  ice,  they  saw  not  far  off  a  little 
black  dot  on  the  snow  which  they  thought 
might  be  bear  or  seal.  With  gun  in  hand 
they  crept  along  slowly  and  watchfully,  and 
soon  they  got  close  enough  to  see  that  there 
was  a  little  man,  an  Eskimo,  armed  with  a 
spear  and  bow  and  arrows  and  with  four  or 
five  dogs  and  a  rough  little  sled,  something 
like  Johnny's  sled,  but  with  runners  made  of 
frozen  salmon.  At  first  he  appeared  rather 
afraid  of  them,  but  they  soon  made  signs  to 
him  that  they  were  friends  and  were  lost 
and  very  hungry.  With  a  grin  which 
showed  his  white  teeth  he  pointed  to  his 
runners,  and  borrowing  Tommy's  knife, 
he  clipped  a  piece  off  of  them  for  each  of 
them  and  handed  it  back  with  the  knife; 
76 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


Tommy  knew  that  he  ought  not  to  eat  with 
his  knife,  but  he  was  so  hungry  that  he 
thought  it  would  be  overlooked.  Having 
breakfasted  on  frozen  runner,  they  were 
fortunate  enough  to  make  the  Eskimo 
understand  that  they  wanted  to  find  a  polar 
bear.  He  made  signs  to  them  to  follow  him 
and  he  would  guide  them  where  they  would 
find  one.  "Can  you  shoot?"  he  asked, 
making  a  sign  with  his  bow  and  arrow. 

"Can  we  shoot!"  laughed  both  Tommy 
and  Johnny.  "Watch  us.  See  that  big 
green  piece  of  ice  there?"  They  pointed 
at  an  ice-peak  near  by.  "Well,  watch  us!" 
And  first  Johnny  and  then  Tommy  blazed 
away  at  it,  and  the  way  the  icicles  came 
clattering  down  satisfied  them.  They  wished 
all  that  trip  that  the  ice-peak  had  been  a 
bear.  So  they  followed  him,  and  a  great 
guide  he  was.  He  showed  them  how  to 
77 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

avoid  the  rough  places  in  the  ice-fields,  and, 
in  fact,  seemed  quite  as  much  at  home  in 
that  waste  of  ice  and  snow  as  Johnny  was 
back  in  town. 

He  always  kept  near  the  coast,  he  said,  as 
he  could  find  both  bear  and  seal  there. 
They  had  reached  a  very  rough  place, 
when,  as  they  were  going  along,  he  stopped 
suddenly  and  pointed  far  off  across  the  ice. 
Neither  Tommy  nor  Johnny  could  see  any- 
thing except  ice  and  snow,  try  as  they 
might.  But  they  understood  from  his  ex- 
citement that  somewhere  in  the  distance 
was  a  seal  or  possibly  even  a  polar  bear 
and,  gun  in  hand,  with  beating  hearts,  they 
followed  him  as  he  stole  carefully  through 
the  ice-peaks,  working  his  way  along,  and 
every  now  and  then  cautioning  them  to 
stoop  so  as  not  to  be  seen. 

So  they  crept  along  until  they  reached 
78 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


the  foot  of  a  high  ridge  of  ice  piled  up  below 
a  long  ledge  of  black  rock  which  seemed  to 
rise  out  of  the  frozen  sea.  Up  this  they 
worked  their  way,  stooping  low,  the  guide 
in  front,  clutching  his  bow  and  arrow, 
Johnny  next,  clutching  his  gun,  and  Tommy 
behind,  clutching  his,  each  treading  in  the 
other's  tracks.  Suddenly,  as  he  neared  the 
top,  the  guide  dropped  flat  on  the  snow. 
Johnny  followed  his  example  and  Tommy 
did  the  same.  They  knew  that  they  must 
be  close  to  the  bear  and  they  held  their 
breath;  for  the  guide,  having  examined  his 
bow  and  arrows  carefully,  began  to  wriggle 
along  on  his  stomach.  Johnny  and  Tommy 
wriggled  along  behind  him,  clutching  their 
guns.  Just  at  the  top  of  the  ledge  the  guide 
quietly  slipped  an  arrow  out  of  his  quiver 
and  held  it  in  his  hand,  as  he  slowly  raised 
his  head  and  peeped  over.  Johnny  and 
79 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

Tommy,  guns  in  hand,  crept  up  beside  him 
to  peep  also.  At  that  instant,  however,  be- 
fore Tommy  could  see  anything,  the  guide 
sprang  to  his  feet.  "Whiz,"  by  Tommy's 
ear  went  an  arrow  at  a  great  white  object 
towering  above  them  at  the  entrance  of 
what  seemed  a  sort  of  cave,  and  two  more 
arrows  followed  it,  whizzing  by  his  ear 
so  quickly  that  they  were  all  three  sticking 
in  deep  before  Tommy  took  in  that  the 
object  was  a  great  white  polar  bear,  with 
his  head  turned  from  them,  in  the  act  of 
going  in  the  cave.  As  the  arrows  struck  him, 
he  twisted  himself  and  bit  savagely  at  them, 
breaking  off  all  but  one,  which  was  lodged 
back  of  his  shoulder.  As  he  reared  up  on 
his  hind  legs  and  tried  to  get  at  this  arrow, 
he  seemed  to  Tommy  as  high  as  the  great 
wardrobe  at  home.  Tommy,  however,  had 
no  time  to  do  much  thinking,  for  in  twisting 
80 


TO   SANTA   CLAUS 


around  the  bear  caught  sight  of  them.  As 
he  turned  toward  them,  the  guide  with  a 
yell  that  sounded  like  "Look  out!"  dodged 
behind,  but  both  Tommy  and  Johnny  threw 
up  their  guns  and  pulled  the  trigger.  What 
was  their  horror  to  find  that  they  both  had 
forgotten  to  load  their  guns  after  showing 
the  guide  how  they  could  shoot.  The  next 
second,  with  jaws  wide  open,  the  bear  made 
a  dash  for  them.  Tommy's  heart  leapt  into 
his  throat.  He  glanced  around  to  see  if  he 
could  run  and  climb  a  tree,  for  he  knew  that 
grizzlies  could  not  climb,  and  he  hoped  that 
polar  bears  could  not  climb  either,  while 
Tommy  prided  himself  on  climbing  and 
had  often  climbed  the  apple-tree  in  the 
pasture  at  home;  but  there  was  not  a  tree 
or  a  shrub  in  sight,  and  all  he  saw  was  the 
little  guide  running  for  life  and  disappear- 
ing behind  an  ice-peak. 
81 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

"Run,  Johnny!'*  cried  Tommy,  and, 
"Run,  Tommy!"  cried  Johnny  at  the  same 
moment.  But  they  had  no  time  to  run,  for 
the  next  second  the  bear  was  upon  them, 
his  eyes  glaring,  his  great  teeth  gleaming, 
his  huge  jaws  wide  open,  from  which  came 
a  growl  that  shook  the  ice  under  their  feet. 
As  the  bear  sprang  for  them  Johnny  was 
more  directly  in  his  way,  but,  happily,  his 
foot  slipped  from  under  him  and  he  fell 
flat  on  his  back  just  as  the  bear  lit,  or  he 
would  have  been  crushed  instantly.  Even 
as  it  was,  he  was  stunned  and  lay  quite  still 
under  the  bear,  which  for  the  moment 
seemed  to  be  dazed.  Either  he  could  not 
tell  what  had  become  of  Johnny,  or  else  he 
could  not  make  up  his  mind  whether  to  eat 
Johnny  up  at  once  or  to  leave  him  and 
catch  Tommy  first  and  then  eat  them  both 
together.  He  seemed  to  decide  on  the 
82 


What  was  their  horror  to  find  that  they  both  had  forgotten 
to  load  their  guns, 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


latter,  for,  standing  up,  he  fixed  his  eyes  on 
Tommy  and  took  a  step  across  Johnny's 
prostrate  body,  with  his  mouth  open  wider 
than  before,  his  eyes  glaring  more  fiercely, 
and  with  a  roar  and  a  growl  that  made  the 
ice-peaks  shed  a  shower  of  icicles.  Then  it 
was  that  Tommy  seemed  to  have  become  a 
different  boy.  In  fact,  no  sooner  had 
Johnny  gone  down  than  Tommy  forgot  all 
about  himself  and  his  own  safety,  and 
thought  only  of  Johnny  and  how  he  could 
save  him.  And,  oh,  how  sorry  he  was 
that  he  had  let  Johnny  carry  all  the  am- 
munition, even  though  it  was  heavy!  For 
his  gun  was  empty  and  Johnny  had  every 
cartridge.  Tommy  was  never  so  scared 
in  all  his  life.  He  tried  to  cry  out,  but 
his  throat  was  parched,  so  he  began  to 
say  his  prayers,  and  remembering  what 
Santa  Claus  had  said  about  boys  who 
83 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

asked  only  for  themselves,  he  tried  to  pray 
for  Johnny. 

At  this  moment  happened  what  appeared 
almost  a  miracle.  By  Tommy  dashed  a 
little  hairy  ball  and  flew  at  the  bear  like 
a  tiger;  and  there  was  Sate,  a  part  of  his 
rope  still  about  his  neck,  clinging  to  the 
bear  for  life.  The  bear  deliberately  stopped 
and  looked  around  as  if  he  were  too  sur- 
prised to  move;  but  Sate's  teeth  were  in 
him,  and  then  the  efforts  of  the  bear  to 
catch  him  were  really  funny.  He  snapped 
and  snarled  and  snarled  and  snapped;  but 
Sate  was  artful  enough  to  dodge  him,  and 
the  bear's  huge  paws  simply  beat  the  air 
and  knocked  up  the  snow.  Do  what  he 
might,  he  could  not  touch  Sate.  Finally  the 
bear  did  what  bears  always  do  when  bees 
settle  on  them  when  they  are  robbing  their 
hives — he  began  to  roll  over  and  over,  and 
84 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


the  more  he  rolled  the  more  he  tied  himself 
up  in  the  rope  around  Sate.  As  he  rolled 
away  from  Johnny,  Tommy  dashed  forward 
and  picked  up  Johnny's  gun,  coolly  loaded 
it,  loading  it  right,  too,  and,  springing  for- 
ward, raised  the  gun  to  his  shoulder.  The 
bear,  however,  rolled  so  rapidly  that  Tommy 
was  afraid  he  might  shoot  Sate,  and  before 
he  could  fire,  the  bear,  with  Sate  still  cling- 
ing to  him,  rolled  inside  the  mouth  of  the 
cave.  Tommy  was  in  despair.  At  this 
moment,  however,  he  heard  a  sound,  and 
there  was  Johnny  just  getting  on  his  feet. 
He  had  never  been  so  glad  to  see  any  one. 

"Where  is  the  bear?"  asked  Johnny, 
looking  around,  still  a  little  dazed.  Tommy 
pointed  to  the  cave. 

"In  there,  with  Sate  tied  to  him." 

"We  must  save  him,"  said  Johnny. 

Carefully  dividing  the  ammunition  now, 
85 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

both  boys  loaded  their  guns,  and  hurrying 
down  the  icy  slope,  carefully  approached 
the  mouth  of  the  cave,  guns  in  hand,  in 
case  the  bear  should  appear. 

Inside  it  was  so  dark  that  they  could  at 
first  see  nothing,  but  they  could  hear  the 
sound  of  the  struggle  going  on  between 
Sate  and  the  bear.  Suddenly  Sate  changed 
his  note  and  gave  a  little  cry  as  of  pain. 
At  the  sound  of  his  distress  Tommy  forgot 
himself. 

"Follow  me!"  he  cried.  "He  is  chok- 
ing!" and  not  waiting  even  to  look  behind 
to  see  whether  Johnny  was  with  him,  he 
dashed  forward  into  the  cave,  gun  in  hand, 
thinking  only  to  save  Sate.  Stumbling  and 
slipping,  he  kept  on,  and  turning  a  corner 
there  right  in  front  of  him  were  the  two 
eyes  of  the  bear,  glaring  in  the  darkness  like 
coals  of  fire.  Pushing  boldly  up  and  aiming 
86 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


straight  between  the  two  eyes,  Tommy 
pulled  the  trigger.  With  a  growl  which 
mingled  with  the  sound  of  the  gun,  the  bear 
made  a  spring  for  him  and  fell  right  at  his 
feet,  rolled  up  in  a  great  ball.  Happily  for 
Sate,  he  lit  just  on  top  of  the  ball.  Tommy 
whipped  out  his  knife  and  cut  the  cord 
from  about  Sate's  throat,  and  had  him  in 
his  arms  when  Johnny  came  up. 

The  next  thing  was  to  skin  the  bear,  and 
this  the  boys  expected  to  find  as  hard  work 
as  ever  even  Johnny  had  done;  but,  fortu- 
nately, the  bear  had  been  so  surprised  at 
Tommy's  courage  and  skill  in  aiming  that 
when  the  bullet  hit  him  he  had  almost 
jumped  out  of  his  skin.  So,  after  they  had 
worked  a  little  while,  the  skin  came  off 
quite  easily.  What  surprised  Johnny  was 
that  it  was  all  tanned,  but  Tommy  had 
always  rather  thought  that  bears  wore  their 
87 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

skin  tanned  on  the  inside  and  lined,  too. 
The  next  thing  was  to  have  a  dinner  of  bear- 
meat,  for,  as  Tommy  well  remembered,  all 
bear-hunters  ate  bear-steaks.  They  were 
about  to  go  down  to  the  shore  to  hunt  along 
for  driftwood,  when,  their  eyes  becoming 
accustomed  to  the  darkness,  they  found  a 
pile  of  wood  in  the  corner  of  the  cave,  which 
satisfied  them  that  at  some  time  in  the  past 
this  cave  had  been  used  by  robbers  or  pirates, 
who  probably  had  been  driven  away  by  this 
great  bear,  or  possibly  might  even  have  been 
eaten  up  by  him. 

At  first  they  had  some  little  difficulty  in 
making  a  fire,  as  their  matches,  warranted 
water-proof,  had  all  got  damp  when  Tom- 
my fell  into  the  water — an  incident  I  forgot 
to  mention;  but  after  trying  and  trying, 
the  tinder  caught  from  the  flint  and  they 
quickly  had  a  fine  fire  crackling  in  a 
88 


TO   SANTA   CLAUS 


corner  of  the  cave,  and  here  they  cooked 
bear-steak  and  had  the  finest  dinner  they 
had  had  since  they  came  into  the  Arctic 
Regions.  They  were  just  thinking  of  going 
after  the  dogs  and  the  sleds,  when  up  came 
the  dogs  dragging  the  sleds  behind  them, 
and  without  a  word,  pitched  in  to  make  a 
hearty  meal  of  bear-meat  themselves.  It 
seemed  as  if  they  had  got  a  whiff  of  the 
fresh  steak  and  pulled  the  sleds  loose  from  the 
ice  points  to  which  they  were  fastened.  They 
were  not,  however,  allowed  to  eat  in  any 
peace  until  they  had  all  recognized  that 
Sate  was  the  hero  of  this  bear  fight,  for 
he  gave  himself  as  many  airs  as  though  he 
had  not  only  got  the  bear,  but  had  shot  and 
skinned  it. 

It  was  at  this  moment  that  the  Eskimo 
guide  came  back,  jabbering  with  delight, 
and  with  his  white  teeth  shining,  just  as  if 
89 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

he  had  been  as  brave  as  Sate.  At  first, 
Tommy  and  Johnny  were  inclined  to  be 
very  cold  to  him  and  pointed  their  fingers 
at  him  as  a  coward,  but  when  he  said  he 
had  only  one  arrow  left  and  had  wanted 
that  to  get  a  sealskin  coat  for  Tommy's 
mother,  and,  as  he  had  the  sealskin  coat, 
they  could  not  contradict  him,  but  gra- 
ciously gave  him,  in  exchange  for  the  coat, 
the  bear-meat  which  the  dogs  had  not  eaten. 

Having  packed  everything  on  the  sled 
carefully,  with  the  sealskin  coat  on  top  of 
the  pack  and  the  bear's  fur  on  top  of  that, 
and  having  bid  their  Eskimo  friend  good- 
by,  they  turned  their  backs  on  the  North 
Pole  and  struck  out  for  home. 

They  had  hardly  started,  however,  when 

the    sound    of    sleigh-bells    reached    them, 

coming  from  far  over  the  snow,  and  before 

they  could  tell  where  it  was,  who  should 

90 


TO   SANTA  CLAUS 


appear,  sailing  along  over  the  ice-peaks,  but 
Santa  Claus  himself,  in  his  own  sleigh,  all 
packed  with  Christmas  things,  his  eight 
reindeer  shining  in  the  moonlight  and  his 
bells  jingling  merrily.  Such  a  shout  as  he 
gave  when  he  found  that  they  had  actually 
got  the  bear  and  had  the  robe  to  show  for 
it!  It  did  them  good;  and  both  Tommy 
and  Johnny  vied  with  each  other  in  telling 
what  the  other  had  done.  Santa  Claus  was 
so  pleased  that  he  made  them  both  get  in  his 
sleigh  to  tell  him  about  it.  He  let  Sate  get 
in  too,  and  snuggle  down  right  at  their 
feet.  Johnny's  box-sled  he  hitched  on  be- 
hind. The  dogs  were  turned  loose.  At 
first  Tommy  feared  they  might  get  lost, 
but  Santa  Claus  said  they  would  soon  find 
their  way  home. 

"In  fact,"  he  said  with  a  wink,  "you 
have  not  been  so  far  away  as  you  think. 
91 


TOMMY  TROTS  VISIT 

Now  tell  me  all  about  it,"  he  said.  So 
Tommy  began  to  tell  him,  beginning  at  the 
very  beginning  when  Johnny  took  him  on 
his  sled.  But  he  had  only  got  as  far  as  the 
sofa,  when  he  fell  asleep,  and  he  never  knew 
how  he  got  back  home.  When  he  waked 
up  he  was  in  bed. 

He  never  could  recall  exactly  what  hap- 
pened. Afterward  he  recalled  Santa  Claus 
saying  to  him,  "You  must  show  me  where 
Johnny  lives,  for  I'm  afraid  I  forgot  him  last 
Christmas."  Then  he  remembered  that 
once  he  heard  Santa  Claus  calling  to  him  in 
a  whisper,  "Tommy  Trot,  Tommy  Trot," 
and  though  he  was  very  sleepy  he  raised 
himself  up  to  find  Santa  Claus  standing  up 
in  the  sled  in  Johnny's  backyard,  with 
Johnny  fast  asleep  in  his  arms;  and  that 
Santa  Claus  said  to  him,  "I  want  to  put 
92 


Santa  Claus  said  to  him,  "I  want  to  put  Johnny  in  bed 
without  waking  him  up." 


TO  SANTA  CLAUS 


Johnny  in  bed  without  waking  him  up,  and 
I  want  you  to  follow  me,  ,and  put  these 
things  which  I  have  piled  up  here  on  the 
sled  you  made  for  him,  in  his  stocking  by 
the  fire."  He  remembered  that  at  a  whistle 
to  the  deer  they  sprang  with  a  bound  to  the 
roof,  the  sled  sailing  behind  them ;  but  how 
he  got  down  he  never  could  recall,  and  he 
never  knew  how  he  got  back  home. 

When  he  waked  next  morning  there  was 
the  polar  bearskin  which  he  and  Johnny 
had  brought  back  with  them,  not  to  men- 
tion the  sealskin  coat,  and  though  Johnny, 
when  he  next  saw  him,  was  too  much  ex- 
cited at  first  by  his  new  sled  and  the  fine 
fresh  cow  which  his  mother  had  found  in 
her  cow-house  that  morning,  to  talk  about 
anything  else,  yet,  when  he  and  his  mother 
came  over  after  breakfast  to  see  Tommy's 
father  and  thank  him  for  something,  they 
93 


TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT 

said  that  Santa  Claus  had  paid  them  a  visit 
such  as  he  never  had  paid  before,  and  they 
brought  with  them  Johnny's  goats,  which 
they  insisted  on  giving  Tommy  as  a  Christ- 
mas present.  So  Tommy  Trot  knew  that 
Santa  Claus  had  got  his  letter. 


94 


m 


^m 


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